Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Prayer of an Innocent Person[a]
17 Listen, O Lord, to my plea for justice;
pay attention to my cry for help!
Listen to my honest prayer.
2 You will judge in my favor,
because you know what is right.
3 You know my heart.
You have come to me at night;
you have examined me completely
and found no evil desire in me.
I speak no evil,
4 as others do;
I have obeyed your command
and have not followed paths of violence.
5 I have always walked in your way
and have never strayed from it.
6 I pray to you, O God, because you answer me;
so turn to me and listen to my words.
7 Reveal your wonderful love and save me;
at your side I am safe from my enemies.
8 Protect me as you would your very eyes;
hide me in the shadow of your wings
9 from the attacks of the wicked.
Deadly enemies surround me;
10 they have no pity and speak proudly.
11 They are around me now, wherever I turn,
watching for a chance to pull me down.
12 They are like lions, waiting for me,
wanting to tear me to pieces.
13 Come, Lord! Oppose my enemies and defeat them!
Save me from the wicked by your sword;
14 save me from those who in this life have all they want.
Punish them with the sufferings you have stored up for them;
may there be enough for their children
and some left over for their children's children!
15 But I will see you, because I have done no wrong;
and when I awake, your presence will fill me with joy.
Various Sayings
5 The Lord says,
“I will condemn those
who turn away from me
and put their trust in human beings,
in the strength of mortals.
6 He is like a bush in the desert,
which grows in the dry wasteland,
on salty ground where nothing else grows.
Nothing good ever happens to him.
7 “But I will bless the person
who puts his trust in me.
8 (A)He is like a tree growing near a stream
and sending out roots to the water.
It is not afraid when hot weather comes,
because its leaves stay green;
it has no worries when there is no rain;
it keeps on bearing fruit.
9 “Who can understand the human heart?
There is nothing else so deceitful;
it is too sick to be healed.
10 (B)I, the Lord, search the minds
and test the hearts of people.
I treat each of them according to the way they live,
according to what they do.”
11 The person who gets money dishonestly
is like a bird that hatches eggs it didn't lay.
In the prime of life he will lose his riches,
and in the end he is nothing but a fool.
12 Our Temple is like a glorious throne,
standing on a high mountain from the beginning.
13 Lord, you are Israel's hope;
all who abandon you will be put to shame.
They will disappear like names written in the dust,[a]
because they have abandoned you, the Lord,
the spring of fresh water.
Jeremiah Asks the Lord for Help
14 Lord, heal me and I will be completely well; rescue me and I will be perfectly safe. You are the one I praise!
15 The people say to me, “Where are those threats the Lord made against us? Let him carry them out now!”
16 But, Lord, I never urged you to bring disaster on them;[b] I did not wish a time of trouble for them. Lord, you know this; you know what I have said. 17 Do not be a terror to me; you are my place of safety when trouble comes. 18 Bring disgrace on those who persecute me, but spare me, Lord. Fill them with terror, but do not terrify me. Bring disaster on them and break them to pieces.
Jesus and Beelzebul(A)
22 Then some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon. Jesus healed the man, so that he was able to talk and see. 23 The crowds were all amazed at what Jesus had done. “Could he be the Son of David?” they asked.
24 (B)When the Pharisees heard this, they replied, “He drives out demons only because their ruler Beelzebul gives him power to do so.”
25 Jesus knew what they were thinking, and so he said to them, “Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long. And any town or family that divides itself into groups which fight each other will fall apart. 26 So if one group is fighting another in Satan's kingdom, this means that it is already divided into groups and will soon fall apart! 27 You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so. Well, then, who gives your followers the power to drive them out? What your own followers do proves that you are wrong! 28 No, it is not Beelzebul, but God's Spirit, who gives me the power to drive out demons, which proves that the Kingdom of God has already come upon you.
29 (C)“No one can break into a strong man's house and take away his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can plunder his house.
30 (D)“Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering. 31 For this reason I tell you: people can be forgiven any sin and any evil thing they say;[a] but whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 (E)Anyone who says something against the Son of Man can be forgiven; but whoever says something against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven—now or ever.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.